The DVSA has launched a new ‘status’ page for the MOT testing service, where stations can now verify known service outages and get a contingency code.
Announcing the new page in its blog, the DVSA said: “When we have maintenance work planned we’ll send you an email and update the new status page to let you know when the service will be unavailable.
“If the service goes down unexpectedly we’ll update the status page as soon as we can. Unplanned outages can be for a number of technical reasons and as soon as we know about the problem we try to fix it as quickly as possible.
“We want to make sure you know the status of the service straight away and our new status page will help you to access this information instantly.”
High volume of calls
Where the service experienced problems in the past, the DVSA would receive a high volume of calls from MOT stations to get a contingency code.
The agency said the number of calls made it difficult for testers to actually get through and speak to someone but it hopes the new service status page, which is located in the Matters of Testing blog, will mean testers can access a contingency code without the need to call.
Commenting on the DVSA blog, Richard said: “That should hopefully be a big improvement, as it was a nightmare to get through to get the contingency code, in the end we had to rely on someone else getting through and them passing the code around.
However, some have expressed concern about DVSA’s increasing reliance on the internet.
Addressing the DVSA, Dave said: “What about when your site goes down, as it did earlier this month on a Saturday morning?
“Are there any plans to text the contingency code in the event of server failure?”
The agency claims users will be able to access the new status page to get a contingency code, even if the testing service is down, because it’s hosted on the DVSA blog.
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